Oil Rebounds Amid Broad Market Recovery; Investors Still Wary

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Tuesday in sympathy with a rally in equity markets but investors remained jittery over the Wuhan virus that has now killed over 1,000 in China.

Brent crude (LCOc1) rose 70 cents, or 1.3%, to $53.97 a barrel by 04:28 GMT, retreating from an intraday high of $54.13. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (CLc1) was up 61 cents, or about 1.2%, at $50.18 a barrel.

The number of coronavirus deaths in mainland China have now reached 1,016, its National Health Commission said, and the number of cases has topped 42,600.

The virus has also spread to two dozen other countries, with the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioning on Monday that the cases outside of China could be "the spark that becomes a bigger fire".

Traders remain concerned that China's oil demand could take a further hit if the coronavirus cannot be contained. Chinese state refiners have already said they will cut as much as 940,000 barrels per day (bpd) from their crude runs in February due to the virus.

Source : Reuters

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